Optimising workplace learning and development

Smart training for smart organisations: From telling to learning is a collaboration between the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, has been designed to teach workplace based trainers and educators how to expand their ability and approaches in teaching others and so make them more effective trainers.

Dr Allie Clemans from the Faculty of Education said the innovative nature of the program will assist organisations to reach their workforce through more engaged learning.

"It is an evidence-based professional development program that can be tailored to different organisations and different training and learning contexts, and can be delivered either on campus or at the organisation’s work site," Dr Clemans said.

"It allows the company’s trainers to redesign their existing workplace training programs to ensure consolidation of their trainees’ learning.

"The workplace educators leave the program with ideas for engaging the staff they train through a range of ‘tested’ approaches that are presented and refined by program participants during the course."

From telling to learning has been designed to deliver up to a five-day training program, depending on the needs of the company involved and the combination of modules selected. The modules include problem-based learning; psychological approaches to learning, and adult learning modelling.

Participants are encouraged to redesign their training during the course as a way to apply their learning.

Dr Phil Riley from the Faculty of Education said the program was more about what has to be learnt, understanding learner motivation, using problem-based learning approaches, redesigning training sessions and presenting them for comment rather than the presenters telling them what to do.

"It teaches workplace-based trainers and educators how to expand their ability and approaches in teaching others and thereby make them more effective trainers," Dr Riley said.

"From telling to learning allows us to teach in diverse workplaces, and enables teaching to be more engaging using different approaches, regardless of the content required."

From telling to learning was recently piloted with training staff, mainly engineers, from aeronautical engineering company Nova Systems.